The USWA has all sorts of poll data on free trade---the good, the bad, and the indifferent. All show the majority of the public to be downright hostile to the free trade position. If anything the USWA has tried to take an enlightened position advocating for "fair trade" with protections for the envirnoment and workers of the world.
If Buchanan gets a hold of your analysis of social security or that of Ruth Coniff he becomes a serious presidential candidate.
Your email pal,
Tom L.
Doug Henwood wrote:
> Max Sawicky wrote:
>
> >The presidential nominee race is obviously
> >thin on the Democratic side, and neither
> >candidate has any chance of criticizing
> >trade rules. But it should be recognized
> >that the media consistently elevate Buchanan
> >(who is announcing for prez today)
> >as the sole political critic of free trade
> >and neglect everyone on the liberal side
> >except Ralph Nader, who isn't a politician.
> >
> >So equations of anti-free trade and the
> >right should be resisted. Buchanan got
> >on this bandwagon late in the game, as he
> >did for all of his other 'worker' stances.
>
> Max, has EPI or the AFL-CIO done any polling on free trade? The anti-free
> trade position just doesn't seem like a political winner. And the few polls
> I've seen show a majority of the U.S. public approving of NAFTA. With 80%
> of the U.S. labor force employed in services, and so largely immune to
> international competition, does the anti-free-trade line resonate with the
> masses as much as it does with the UAW?
>
> Doug